iClickers Flashcards
(29 cards)
Which of the following is the best definition of a hypothesis?
A. A hypothesis is a well-supported and accepted explanation.
B. A hypothesis is a testable, tentative explanation.
C. A hypothesis is a description of a natural phenomenon.
D. A hypothesis is a guess or a hunch.
Organisms allocate resources to reproduction, growth, and maintenance. Which of the following “pieces of the pie” reflects resources for immune systems?
A. Reproduction
B. Maintenance
C. Growth
D. None of the above
B. Maintenance
Immunity helps an organism maintain functions to continue growing or reproducing.
List 1-3 points about how immunology is relevant to the study of ecology.
Open-ended.
How might an organisms’ immune system reflect the environmental challenges that it experiences?
Open-ended.
Some animals have determinate growth (stop growing once they
become sexually mature; e.g., mammals, birds, insects); others
have indeterminate growth (continue to grow after sexual maturity;
e.g., fish, reptiles). Which group would you expect to invest more
reproductive effort early in their reproductive careers?
a) determinate
b) indeterminate
a) determinate
What type of reproductive effort does the point indicated by
the blue arrow represent?
a. iteroparity, most reproduction is later in life
b. semelparity, reproduce later
c. iteroparity, most reproduction is earlier in life
d. semelparity, reproduce now (early) in life
d. semelparity, reproduce now (early) in life
The blue arrow points to a curve
representing a semelparous organism
that reproduces early in life. When
might an organism reproduce early in
life and only once?
a. If the expectation of future offspring exceeds
that of current reproductive effort
b. if the organism continues to grow once it
becomes sexually mature
c. if the likelihood of mortality before the next
reproductive period is high
c. if the likelihood of mortality before the next
reproductive period is high
If an aggressive male sires more offspring, why would a group of full-sib
brothers reduce their mating competitiveness?
A. Brothers experience increased direct fitness when they only compete with
one another (and not with non-relatives).
B. Brothers experience increased direct fitness and decreased indirect
fitness when in the presence of each other.
C. Females courted by three brothers spend less time laying eggs.
D. Brothers experience increased inclusive (direct + indirect) fitness when
they reduce aggressiveness.
C. Females courted by three brothers spend less time laying eggs.
Looking at the figure to the right, why does the
‘evolution’ treatment (dashed line) rise to ~80%
outcrossing before dropping back to ~20% by the
30 th generation?
A. Nematodes in the ‘evolution’ treatment are
selected to outcross allowing them to adapt to
the bacterial parasite; once this happens
nematodes selected to revert to
hermaphroditism (cost of meiosis).
B. Random drift results in reduction of sexual
reproduction in the ‘evolution’ populations.
C. Individuals from the ‘evolution’ lines mated with
individuals from the ‘control’ lines.
A. Nematodes in the ‘evolution’ treatment are
selected to outcross allowing them to adapt to
the bacterial parasite; once this happens
nematodes selected to revert to
hermaphroditism (cost of meiosis).
Looking at the figure to the right,
which of the following is a plausible
explanation for why separate sexes
have a fitness advantage?
A. adding male function incurs high costs of
attracting mates
B. the costs of inbreeding (expression of deleterious
alleles) are high
C. adding female function incurs high costs of
taking care of offspring/brood care
D. all the above are plausible explanations
D. all the above are plausible explanation
Hermaphrodites are very common in flowering
plants (almost 70% of angiosperms!). Why?
A. Self-fertilizing plants experience higher levels of inbreeding
depression.
B. Plants that self-fertilize produce fewer viable seeds than
plants that outcross.
C. The basic floral structure/display is present in both males and
females; this reduces the cost of investing in both male and
female function
C. The basic floral structure/display is present in both males and
females; this reduces the cost of investing in both male and
female function
what is the indirect fitness benefit to a subordinate male?
A. (0.42 x 6.1) – 0.9 = 1.7
B. 0.42 x 6.1 = 2.6
C. 0.42
D. 6.1
B. 0.42 x 6.1 = 2.6
Assuming the same values of B and C, what is the minimum ‘r’
that would still satisfy Hamilton’s Rule?
A. ~0.05
B. ~0.15
C. ~0.42
D. ~0.75
B. ~0.15
Imagine I have one brother (r = 0.5) and one half-sister (r = 0.25). Also, imagine that we could raise three children each
with no altruistic behavior. If I gave up the opportunity to raise my own children, I could help my brother and half-sister
each raise two additional children. Would this altruistic behavior satisfy Hamilton’s Rule?
A. Yes, because 4 additional children I help my siblings rear > 3 children I could have raised by myself.
B. No, my inclusive fitness would be 1.5 which is less than the 3 children I could have raised by myself.
B. No, my inclusive fitness would be 1.5 which is less than the 3 children I could have raised by myself.
What does the data presented in the two graphs to the left
tell you about the fundamental niche in relation to the
realized niche?
A. The realized niche is roughly the same as the
fundamental niche.
B. The realized niche is broader than the fundamental
niche.
C. The realized niche is narrower than the fundamental
niche.
C. The realized niche is narrower than the fundamental
niche.
If a highly effective herbivore (i.e., a biological control agent) was introduced to
successfully control the bushclover, how might this affect the realized range
of bushclover in North America?
A. The realized niche would be roughly the same as the fundamental niche
because abiotic conditions haven’t changed.
B. The realized niche would be broader than the fundamental niche because
the herbivore caused the bushclover to spread into new areas.
C. The realized niche would be narrower than the fundamental niche because
the herbivore restricted the distribution of the bushclover.
C. The realized niche would be narrower than the fundamental niche because
the herbivore restricted the distribution of the bushclover.
Red-winged Blackbirds often form huge roosts (esp. in winter). You conduct a mark-
recapture study to estimate the roost size at Riverbend Ponds Natural Area in Ft.
Collins. You tag (mark) 150 individuals, release them, and capture another 255
individuals two days later. Of these 255, 22 were tagged and 233 were unmarked. What
is your estimate of the total number of roosting birds?
A. ~1589 birds.
B. ~405 birds.
C. ~1739 birds.
D. ~768,900 birds
C. ~1739 birds.
A population of mice starts with 100 individuals and their intrinsic rate of growth is 0.4. How many mice will there
be in 5 years (t is measured in years)?
A. 500 mice
B. 1250 mice
C. 544 mice
D. 739 mice
D. 739 mice
A population of chipmunks (breed once per year) starts with 100 individuals and an annual geometric growth rate
of 1.5. How many chipmunks will there be in 5 years (t is measured in years)?
A. 759 chipmunks
B. 150 chipmunks
C. 152 chipmunks
D. 750 chipmunks
A. 759 chipmunks
In 1937, 8 pheasants were introduced to Protection Island off the coast of Washington State. With abundant food
and very few predators, the population grew to 1325 birds after 5 years. lambda is 2.78, what is r?
A. 0.278
B. 2.78
C. 1.02
D. 0.44
C. 1.02
In 1937, 8 pheasants were introduced to Protection Island off the coast of Washington State. With abundant food
and very few predators, the population grew to 1325 birds after 5 years. What is lambda?
A. 0.278
B. 2.78
C. 1.02
D. 0.44
B. 2.78
In 1937, 8 pheasants were introduced to Protection Island off the coast of Washington State. With abundant food
and very few predators, the population grew to 1325 birds after 5 years. lambda is 2.78, what is the doubling time?
A. 67 years
B. 0.27 years
C. 27 years
D. 0.68 years
D. 0.68 years
Under what conditions is population size constant (does
not change over time)?
A. when ‘r’ is 0
B. when N = 0
C. when N = K
D. either A, B, or C
